Two employees of the world-famous Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York were injured in a knife attack on Saturday. The two victims were taken to a nearby hospital “in stable condition,” police said. The perpetrator is apparently a regular guest of MoMA who has already attracted attention several times and whose membership card was recently withdrawn for “improper conduct”. The building was evacuated.
According to the US broadcaster NBC, the injuries to the two MoMA employees were apparently not life-threatening. They had denied the man entry to the famous site in Midtown Manhattan. As a result, he fled. New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers have launched a manhunt for the suspect, who police say was known to MoMA staff from previous incidents, including at least one in the past few days. The New York police called for people to avoid the area around the museum “due to police investigations”.
The two victims, both women, were taken to a local hospital, where they were treated for multiple stab wounds to their upper bodies, but “we were told they’d be fine,” New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John Miller said at one subsequent press conference. The NYPD was not aware of any arrests or other collisions with the law, Miller said.
A letter was delivered to the man Friday revoking his MoMA membership card, and he showed up late Saturday afternoon “with the stated intention” to see a film being shown at the museum, Miller said.
When he was told his membership card had expired and was denied entry, he became angry, jumped over the reception desk and stabbed the two employees, Miller said. Surveillance videos showed him fleeing the museum on foot shortly afterwards.
The New York Post published photos showing the two women on stretchers being taken to waiting ambulances outside the museum. MoMA is known for one of the world’s largest and most influential collections of modern art.